Brad Binder explains Sprint pit stop: “The side was dangling off"

Saturday at the Hungarian MotoGP was a case of what might have been for Brad Binder.

It began in qualifying, when the KTM rider missed out on a Qualifying 2 place after exactly matching the lap time of second-fastest Fabio di Giannantonio.

The VR46 rider’s next-best effort was marginally faster, giving him the final transfer spot on a tie-break.

While the Italian and fellow Q1 graduate Marco Bezzecchi then exploited the extra track time to claim a front row start, Binder was left to start 13th on the grid.

Things then went further downhill for the South African when the red lights went out for the Sprint race.

“Firstly, I spun off the line, so I went back to basically last,” Binder said. “I passed a few guys in Turn 1 and 2, so I made a few places there.

“Then, when we got to the final chicane of sector three, the whole group got congested.

“The guys in front of me hit the brakes and I wasn’t ready for it. I ended up clipping my wing on the back of another bike.

“It wasn’t a massive issue, I just popped a wing off, but then unfortunately on the next lap the fairing split.

“Obviously, I’d broken it when I had the impact. So I had to come in and change the fairing because the side was dangling off.”

The pit stop left Binder in last place and a lap down, where he eventually finished.

But Binder underlined what might have been by matching the 1m 37s rhythm of the podium finishers - including runner-up di Giannantonio - in the closing stages.

“I had really good pace actually. So a real pity,” he admitted. “Today was not my day but sometimes things don’t go according to plan. I figured out a few areas where we could improve so we’ll speak with the boys and get dialled in for tomorrow.”

Team-mate Pedro Acosta also had a race to forget, getting caught up in the first turn chaos, then crashing out while trying to overtake reigning MotoGP champion Jorge Martin for tenth.